Trader Gregory Rowe works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. / Richard Drew, AP

by Staff and wire reports, USA TODAY

by Staff and wire reports, USA TODAY

NEW YORK â?? Stocks started February with a bang Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average closed above 14,000 for the first time in more than five years. The government's January employment report, which said 157,000 jobs were added last month, boosted all major indexes 1% or more.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange cheered as the Dow finished Friday up 149.21 points, 1.1%, to 14,009.79 and is less than 150 points from its all-time closing high of 14,164.53 set Oct. 9, 2007, before the financial meltdown and a recession pulled it sharply lower.

The benchmark index appears on track to extend a four-year-old bull market and other stock indexes are along for the ride. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index ended 15.06 points, 1%, to 1,513.17. And the tech-driven Nasdaq composite index closed up 36.97 points, 1.2%, to 3,179.10. All three indexes had their biggest one-day point gains since Jan. 2, the first trading day of 2013.

The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 14,000 several times Friday morning and began gaining steam in afternoon trading. The stock buying spree was triggered by Friday's release of key economic reports, starting with the January employment jobs and followed by bullish auto sales figures and robust reports on manufacturing, consumer sentiment and construction spending.

The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond ended the week at 2%, which it tiptoed around most of the week and ending at the highest yield since April 2012. Oil prices continued to rise. The contract price on a barrel of oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange finished up 12 cents to $97.61. Earlier in the week, the price had been above $98 -- for the first time in months.

Gold prices were higher, up $7.20, or 0.4%, to $1,669.20. In currency trading, the euro was trading up 0.5% against the dollar at 1.366, while the greenback was trading up 1.2% against the Japanese yen at 92.84.

Before the January employment report was released Friday morning, economists had expected payrolls to increase by about 160,000, on target with the government's figures. However, the job creation wasn't strong enough to keep the unemployment rate steady. It ticked up to 7.9% from 7.8% last month.

On Thursday, the major U.S. stock indexes drifted lower, backing away from new highs. At the close, the Dow lost 0.43%, the S&P 500 shed 0.3% and the Nasdaq composite index reversed course late in the trading session and ended down less than a point.

The Dow gained 5.8% in January and the S&P 500 jumped 5.1% for the month. Both indexes are within shouting distance of setting all-time highs although it may be months before the records are broken.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index, meanwhile, was once again energized by the yen's continued descent against the dollar. It rose 0.5% to 11,191.

In Europe, major stock indexes in Britain, France and Germany ended the week higher, boosted by investor reaction to the jobs report.

The Dow index has blown through 1,000-point milestones since its all-time closing high of 14,164.53 on Oct. 9., 2007. It then plunging during the financial meltdown and recession, hitting a 12-year low of 6,547 on March 9, 2009. Here are the rebound milestone dates with the number of trading sessions in between.